Closer To The Edge
by cheesycheese
Summary: Soo my first fanfic! Basically about Jared Leto falling and breaking his knee in a park, but Shannon thinks he's acting and just walks away, leaving him there. Please read and review,I'll love you for it!
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first fanfic. I've read a lot,but never actually wrote one. This is about Jared Leto breaking his knee,which I know may seem stalkerish,but it's really not. I just have a huge crush on im at the moment,and had this stuck in my head for days,so decided to try writing it. I hope you all like it,and I apologize for any errors you may find in this. Please bear in mind that I'm only 15,and this is my first story. Please review! I wrote more chapters on this,and will add em if you all review. I really don't mind criticism,and ALL comments will be appreciated :D

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His knee connected with the rock with an enormous amount of force,a loud crack emitting,mostly muffled by his initial surprised yelp,and now,yell of pain. It hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before. He fell face forward,grunting and clutching at his knee. He saw stars in front of his eyes as he tried to gain a bit of control He rolled onto his back with a lot of effort,crying out as his knee hurt even worse. He weakly lifted his head a bit,looking around for Shannon. Where was he? Even if he hadn't heard him fall,he had to have heard him yell out. He dropped his head back down,wishing the pain would just go away. He then heard clapping.

He looked to his left to see Shannon standing there,clapping,and looking..angry! And annoyed. Jared gaped at him. Couldn't he see that he was hurt? 'Shannon? What the..? Look,help me up,I..' he started,but Shannon cut in: 'My god,Jared. Just give it up,would you?' He said,looking thoroughly annoyed. 'What the hell are you talking about? dude,I think it's broken..' He started,but Shannon cut him off yet again. 'Look,I get it,ok? You're a great actor,fine! But I'm not stupid enough to fall for the same thing twice!' Said Shannon angrily,glaring at Jared. Jared couldn't believe his ears. His brother thought that he was kidding,and he had absolutely no idea how to make him believe that he wasn't lying. His concentration partially marred by the raging pain in his knee,he closed his eyes,giving out a low moan. He decided to try again. He opened them again to see shannon standing right over him,shaking his head. 'You're unbelievable,Jared' He said,and started to walk away.'Wait!' He cried,an Shannon stopped in his tracks,not turning around.

'Wait,look,I know why you may think I'm acting but I'm not,ok?' He looked down,cursing himself for wearing jeans. There wasn't even a slight rip or any blood. 'What can I do to prove to you that I'm not lying?' He asked,his voice cracking slightly. He was starting to get desperate now. He hadn't seen a single person in the whole park ever since he came here,and the jogging lane had been mostly straight,so he knew he was quite far from the main gate. 'Just give it up Jared..' Shannon started. 'No! You can't just leave me here,man. Please,you have to believe me!''And just how are you planning on making that happen? hmm?' Shannon asked,annoyed. 'There isn't even a slight rip in your jeans,and apparently,you've broken your knee,which I can't really disprove,can I? So why don't you just stop wasting both of our times,and give up the act?' And without waiting for an answer or retort,he jogged away'Shannon? Shannon! Dude,don't do this! Shannon I'm not lying,I really can't get up!' He cried as a last ditch effort,but it was too late. Shannon was well out of sight into the trees,and Jared had no doubt that he wouldn't be able to hear him.

Cursing angrily,Jared dragged himself to the tree 4 feet behind him,using it to hoist himself up into a sitting position against it's trunk. When he was up,he leaned his head against it,his eyes closed,breathing heavy from the exertion. When he had calmed down a little bit,he lifted his head up. One hand still rested on his thigh,right above his knee,which still felt like someone was pounding a hammer against it. Suddenly,he had an idea. His phone! Getting a little excited,he reached around,looking into his jeans pocket,but it wasn't there. Why isn't it there? He wondered. Then he remembered. Shannon had been bringing along his phone,and jared's had been out of battery,so he hadn't bothered. He cursed his luck angrily,hitting the ground,then stopping when the movement jostled his knee. Biting his tongue to keep from crying out,he tried calling out for help,hoping that someone,anyone,was anger at Shannon flowed through him like fire. He was going to kill him if he ever made his way out of this fucking park. He decided that that was the only way to get his knee taken care of. He would have to walk,and how he was going to do that was beyond him.

Looking around for something that could help him,he saw a long,strong looking branch lying within reach. He leaned over and picked it up,trying to ignore his knee screaming in pain at the a deep breath,he used the brach to stand up slowly,putting his full wieght on it. Groaning,he took an experimental step,almost falling over,but catching himself in the nick of time.'You can do this' He thought. He couldn't believe he had gotten himself into such a situation,and promised himself to never leave his phone again. Slowly,he made his way along the lane he came from,trying to stay close to trees so he could also lean on them for support. Every 10 minutes,he would call out,wishing that someone had come into the park and could help him,but to no avail. His knee raged with pain the entire time,and he himself was wondering how he had the strength to stay upright and walk right hour later,he had covered about half a mile,or so he hoped. His breath came out ragged,his knee felt like it would explode,and the sun beat down on him continously. He allowed himself to collapse under a tree,leaning against the cool trunk and savouring the shade.

All the while,he questioned himself as to why Shannon had left him there. Fine,he admitted that he'd tried to make him think that he'd broken his arm about 5 minutes before actually falling and breaking his knee on a rock,but still. He could've at least made sure,Jared grumbled. He knew he was being childish,but deep down he knew it was mostly his fault for being stuck here. Sighing,he decided to move on,and about 45 minutes later,he had almost made it back to the gate. Uptil this time,Jared felt horrible. He had thrown up due to the heat a while back,had run out of water,and was now swaying dangerously. His knee had started to swell,and he knew that that long walk hadn't done it any good. Weak,tired,and in pain,Jared reached the gate,looking around to see if anyone was there. And just like his luck that day,there was no one in sight. The back entrance to their hotel was deserted,and Jared knew he probably couldn't scream for help even if he tried to. He grabbed the metal gate,and bent over,his other hand on his uninjured knee,trying to steady himself. He took deep breaths,trying to calm himself enough to do something.

'Jared?' His head snapped up to see Tomo standing across the street,frozen on the spot,looking at him in shock. Jared tried to speak,but couldn't,and hoped Tomo could just figure it out. Jared was dead tired,and would've happily collapsed on the street and slept,but he knew he had to get his knee looked at. In a matter of seconds,Tomo had run across the street and was at his side,grabbing his arm and helping him get to a bench about 10 feet away. Jared gladly put his wieght on Tomo. He had never been so happy to see him before. Jared collapsed onto the banch,happy to take the wieght off his knee. He was still breathing heavily,trying to catch his breath. Tomo knelt down in front of him,his eyes filled with concern. 'Jared,what the hell happened? You look horrible! And why were you limping?' He asked sighed,relieved that Tomo didn't think he was kidding too. 'I..fell..on a rock..broke my knee..' He said,in between breaths. He was only mildly surprised to hear his voice so weak. 'Why the hell didn't you call for help? Dude..' Tomo jumped up,whipping out his cell phone,but then stopped'Hey,wait a minute. You went to the park with Shannon in the morning,didn't you? Where the hell is he?' Jared lifted his head,his anger at shannon giving him some strength,and tried to tell Tomo what happened,but stopped when he saw Shannon coming out of the hotel.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello readers. So I think I owe an explanation as to why I haven't updated for almost half a year. exams. But that is half bullshit because i accidentally deleted the chapters I had written of this story and just didn't wanna write it again. But then I realized that I was being like all those other authors who just never update at all,and that I owe an update to everyone who reviewed and added this to their favourites. That meant a lot to me,and it was great encouragement,and I thank you all and everyone who read the story. So here is an incredibly short chapter to hold you over,and I pinky promise I'll give you guys at least two long chapters to read by the end of the week. Tell me what you think :)

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Before Jared could react,Tomo had already called out to shannon. Shannon turned towards them,not seeing Jared at started walking toward them. "Hey tome. What...?" He stopped mid sentence and froze in place when he finally saw Jared. He looked horrible,sweating horrible,hair matted to his forehead,and his knee! Shannon's eyes grew wide when he saw how much his knee had situation dawned on Shannon. He hadn't been lying.

Shannon started to jog towards them,and Jared,feuled by blind anger ,tried standing up without thinking. All he could think about was to just do something to shannon to make him feel some pain. His body,however,weakened by dehydration,did not cooperate,and he collapsed almost immediatly after standing up,Tomo catching him just before he hit the ground. Shannon,who had stepped back when he'd seen Jared attempting to get up and attack him,rushed forward and helped him lay Jared back on the bench

Shannon's eyes started to tear up as he realized just what he'd done. And what hurt even more than that realization was the anger and hurt he'd seen in Jared's eyes. Tomo had made a smart move and decided that he would get answerslater and called an ambulance. He was beyond shocked at what he had just seen,as he knew Jared to be a generally mild mannered and caring person. And now seeing him like this had left him a little rattled,and he resolved to get answers later.


	3. Chapter 3

Readers! More to read,hope you like itt,and thank you for all the reviews. Btw,any suggestions on what should happen next? :D

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Jared wasn't sure he wanted to open his eyes. Everything just seemed to hurt. His knee felt completely numb,but his neck and back felt completely sore. Not to mention the dull throb building on the back of his head. Shifting on the bed,he realized something felt off. There was a strange smell lingering in the air,and his bed felt odd. Finally opening his eyes,he looked around and realized he was in a hospital room,and the previous events of the park came rushing back

He felt a surge of anger at first,this strange sense of betrayal. And Shannon was the last person he'd expected to cause this,since he'd always felt that they were pretty close due to all the time they spent together because of the band. This feeling,however,diminished when he caught sight of Shannon asleep on a chair across the room.

It wasn't his fault. The words just made their way into his head and refused to budge,no matter how much he reasoned with himself. What could he have expected Shannon to do? He could have checked,yes,but Jared was fully aware of the fact that he'd been handing Shannon some sickening stuff about his acting experience. Gloating really wasn't his thing,but that morning had been really frustrating for him,and as ashamed as he was of the thought,it was fun to take it out on Shannon. And he'd seen the guilt in his eyes when he saw him and realized what he'd done

Tomo walked in at that very moment,carrying two styrofoam cups and looking like he hadn't slept in days. Then Jared realized that he didn't know how much time had passed.

"Jared! Dude finally,you're up!" Tomo exclaimed cheerfully. Then he realized that Shannon was still sleeping and nudged him,causing Shannon to wake up with a start and fall off his chair with a startled yelp. Tomo pointed and laughed like a small child,and Jared couldn't help but snicker

"What the hell man?" Shannon yelled while trying to get up with the help of his chair. Before anyone could answer,Shannon looked up and realized that Jared was awake. A strange type of tension filled the room,and Tomo was tactful enough to leave the room,saying that he was going to go tell the doctor that his patient was awake

Jared saw the apology about to roll off of Shannon's lips before the door even closed behind Tomo. Before he could even say anything,Shannon had started.

"Jared I am so sorry.."

"Don't start,its.."

"I can't believe I did something like that.."

"Shannon..."

"Look at you! I..."

"Shannon!" Jared almost yelled the word,a little louder and more harshly than he'd meant to. Shannon immediately stopped talking,instead just looking at jared with a very guilty expression on his face.

"Shannon,it's not your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for it,because no matter what you would've done,I would still be here." He said,hoping that Shannon would hear the sincerity in his voice. Shannon, however, did not seem completely convinced,but before he could start again, Jared started.

"What did the doctor say about my knee?"

Shannon turned towards the door as if wondering where Tomo had gone off to,and then said "umm,well you'll be fine after a couple of months of physical therapy,and you're gonna be on crutches for about a month because you tore some ligaments,and..." He trailed off,as if searching for something to say,but came back with nothing, leaving a very unusual awkward silence between the two brothers. Nothing was said until Tomo came back, and announced that the doctor had said that Jared could be released in the evening


	4. Chapter 4

Hello readers! :D :D Been gone for a while,I know,but I bring updates. 14 reviews on my first story is mind boggling,so thank you to everyone, especially my last two reviewers. They reviewed within a day of each other,and it really inspired me to write.

This chapter is pretty much an insight into jared's reaction to his whole ordeal,and I'm personally very proud of this chapter. Stay tuned,I have some really good ideas for the next chapters.

Enjoy the read and please review :)

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It had been one whole week since Jared's whole knee fiasco. The tour had been interruped due to his injury,with over 14 tour dates already cancelled. Many fans were disappointed,and Jared Leto was not happy. Not one bit. Adding to the misery was his stupid knee. As much as he tried to put on a brave face, it hurt. A lot. The physical therapy sessions he'd been attending for the past 3 days were supposed to help. At least thats what the doctors said. But to Jared, they just made the whole situation worse. His knee would hurt even more after the sessions, and he'd be forced to take his dreaded painkillers, which would make him completely loopy. And not just 'ooh birdie!' loopy, but insanely loopy. He had at one point told tomo that his eyes were very sexy. He had yet to live that one down.

Tomo hadn't been treating him like he would break, for which he was immensely greatful. He'd been the same crazy person he was before, yet still supportive or helpful. Shannon, however, was a whole different story. As much as he appreciated his brothers care, the constant apologies and favours were driving him crazy. He just wanted his goofy brother back.

The door of the hotel room slamming shut jolted him out of his thoughts. He'd been sitting on the couch of their hotel room, knee in a brace and propped up on a chair. Tomo greeted him with a brief 'Hey', setting down the bags over flowing with food on the kitchen counter and settling down on the other end of the couch . 'How you feeling?' he asked, flipping on the t.v

'Same as before' Jared replied tiredly. The worst part in his surprisingly long list of woes was his inability to sleep without accidentally jostling his knee and waking up in sheer agony. Sometimes he just couldn't sleep at all because he was just so tired,even though he barely moved around.  
Unfortunately, Tomo must have noticed the dark bags under his eyes because he was looking at him with concern in his eyes. Before he could say anything jared cut him off. 'Where's Shannon?' he asked abruptly. Tomo frowned at the distraction, but let it go, for which jared was grateful. He knew tomo wasn't stupid and would bring it up later, but Jared just didn't think he could handle an interrogation right now

'He decided to get some pizza, said the walk would help him clear his head' Tomo replied nonchalantly, but the tension in the room was suddenly painfully obvious. The band had been under a lot of pressure from their management due to the interruption in the tour, and all of them were having a hard time dealing with it. Jared just kept his eyes on the t.v screen, fully aware of Tomo watching him intently. Jared wasn't used to such awkwardness with one of his closest friends. He couldn't wait to get better.

Almost immediately, as if on cue, he shifted the wrong way and his knee flared with white hot pain. He gritted his teeth to muffle his grunt, fighting to keep the pain from his face. Tomo was still watching him, and he couldn't let his bandmate think he needed his painkillers. Having more than a decade of acting experience behind him really helped.

The door opened and Shannon walked in with two large pizza boxes, effectively distracting Tomo. Jared sighed quietly with relief. His knee was still throbbing uncomfortably,but it was bearable. Shannon plopped down on the couch between Tomo and Jared , the smell of the cheese pizza's immediately making Jared's stomach growl. Before he could grab a slice, Shannon looked at him worriedly and asked 'You okay?'

Jared bit back a groan. He was so sick of hearing that question. But for Shannon's sake he forced on a smile and said 'I'm okay'  
Shannon nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and they all turned their attention to the t.v while eating their pizza. Jared was barely paying attention, even though NCIS was his favourite show. The pain in his knee was reaching an unbearable point, but he didn't want Shannon and Tomo to get suspicious. He was able to hold out for ten whole minutes before deciding that walking out on his favourite show would be less conspicious than passing out on the couch from the pain. He got up, reaching for his crutches, only letting a slight wince show on his face. Shannon and Tomo immediately stopped eating, looking worriedly at Jared.

He faked a yawn, saying 'I'm just gonna go to bed,pretty tired'. They both nodded. He turned away and made his way back to his bedroom, politely declining both of their offers for help.  
Fortunately, it was only when he was safely in his bedroom did his knee give out completely, causing him to half sink to the floor, using the bed as a for some support. The pain hit him with full force, taking his breath away. Squeezing his eyes shut, he let a small moan escape his lips. It was one of the worst that his knee had hurt, and he was honestly surprised that he was still conscious. He'd pushed himself a little too far that day, and now he was paying for it. After what he knew must have been minutes but felt like hours, the pain ebbed away. He could have cried with happiness. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat, and he was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He stumbled up, not even bothering to change, He didn't to risk another attack. He made a quick trip to the bathroom, and downed four painkillers with some water. They would make him feel really queasy in the morning, but he just couldn't bring himself to care right now. He just really needed to get a good nights sleep without waking up gasping in pain in the middle of the night. He then went and collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep almost immediately,the painkillers finally giving him the relief he needed.


	5. Chapter 5

yes another update! I'm so frikking inspired right now cuz of all the reviews I've gotten :D Thank you everyone.

So I have a couple of things to say here. I started this story a little more than a year back, and I think my writing skills have gotten a lot better since then,so I'm thinking of re writing the first two chappies. Not changing the plot or anything, just minor details and format. What do you guys think? Review or message me and tell me your thoughts.

Secondly, I would love to hear some of your ideas on what should happen next. Since these aren't established characters or anything,anything goes. Again,feel free to message or review with your thoughts

so this chapter has a little adorableness in it,cuz the last chapters were so grim. Don't get me wrong, i love whump and dark stories, and this is mainly what this story is and will remain. But adorableness never hurt anyone :P  
next update really soon. Enjoy, my awesome readers :D

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4 days later:

The band was currently on a flight back to L.A. They had finally decided to go back home. About time too, Jared thought. They were all getting sick of the hotel and dallas, their last tour date for now. Not that the hotel wasn't nice. And the fans that constantly showed up outside of the hotel to show their support for him were amazing. He'd actually snuck out and met some of them, signed a few autographs. All of it really reminded him why he loved being a musician. But they all missed L.A. It was their home, and they really wanted to get back. Jared knew this was a big reason as to why they'd actually agreed to the 5 hour flight back given his knee. But he was slowly getting better.

Now, at 2 p.m, they were sitting in first class, two and a half hours into their flight. Jared had let Tomo take his greatly cherished window seat, knowing that sitting on the further end would make it easier for him to get out. Shannon sat two rows behind them. Jared didn't really have much to do at the moment. Tomo was snoring lightly beside him, slumped into his seat, mouth gaping open. It was inevitable. Tomo just always fell asleep on plane rides, even if they were an hour long, and it amused jared to no end. Just another one of tomo's many quirks.  
The one benifit of first class was the roomy seats, so he could comfortably rest his leg on the foot rest. But that was pretty much the only benefit he saw. He'd travelled coach many times before, and found it far more interesting than sitting with a bunch of snobby looking guys and dealing with overly eager flight attendants.

He sighed lightly, whipping out his ipod and putting his earphones. But before he could pick out a song to play, a little nasally voice to his side interrupted him  
'Excuse me'. He turned his head,seeing a little girl with way brown hair standing next to his seat. He remembered seeing her with her family when they were boarding, looking excited beyond belief. A small smile immediatly tugged at his lips. She was just so cute, not more than four.

'Hmm?' he asked, pulling out his earphones

'Are you Jared Weto?'

He chuckled at the blunder but didn't say anything. He was a little curious as to how she knew who he was. 'Uh,yeah I am. What can I do for you?' he asked

Her face immediately broke out into a huge heart warming smile, and she held out a little notepad and a pink pen for him

'Can you sign this?'

Jared couldn't stop the grin

'Sure' he said, taking them from her and signing it. 'What's your name,miss?' he asked playfully

'Emma!' she said, looking like she could barely contain her excitement.

Jared was adding a little personal message for her when Tomo let out a particularly violent snore, making them both jump slightly

'Is he okay?' she asked curiously, before he could even react.

'Yeah he's fine' Jared said, handing the notebook and pen back to her. 'He's just tired'

Tomo chose this moment to start drooling lightly. Emma looked disgusted but giggled all the same. Then she seemed to remember the autograph, and her whole face lit up again.

'Thank you, thank you!' she cried excitedly, spontaneously jumping forward and hugging his neck, pulling him down slightly. This caused his leg shift slightly the wrong way, sending a stab of pain through his knee. He had to bite back a hiss

Thankfully, Emma didn't notice. She released him, sending a beaming smile at him. He smiled back but before he could say anything, she had run back to her family. He shifted slightly, wincing as he did so. That little misstep had really hurt.  
He heard Emma excitedly relaying the whole thing to her mother, and he just couldn't help but smile again. God she was adorable. He turned his head to see a few men shooting annoyed looks at her direction. Snobs, he thought with disgust.

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful. A few other people had approached him for autographs and pictures, and he had obliged. The attendants had tried to get them back to their seats but jared had waved them off. Meeting the fans was always fun. They'd gone to shannon too. They'd wanted to meet tomo but didn't want to wake him. They'd even kept their voices down. Not that it mattered, considering he'd kept sleeping through Emma and the noise from the plane. But he still appreciated the thought

It was around 3:30 in the afternoon when they finally left LAX. Their manager and his mother had come to pick them up. Jared and Shannon's mother had been almost hysterical seeing him with crutches, hugging him so hard he could barely breathe, not even caring in the slightest of the random people taking pictures. She gave Shannon and Tomo brief hugs and walked back to the car. Jared winced in sympathy at the hurt look on shannon's face. They both knew that the hug had just been to avoid rumours in the media. Their mom had always been very protective of them, no matter how old they got. They both appreciated it, even loved her for it. Except in situations like now, where shannon was left to deal with her wrath.

She clearly had not forgiven shannon for leaving jared like that. Even though jared had given her very vague details about the whole situation, she'd pieced it together. Throughout several phone calls, Jared had tried to tell her that Shannon was really sorry and that he didn't really blame him, but she'd refused to believe it. At one point Shannon had tried to talk to her but she'd been very cold, and made an excuse and hung up. As much as Shannon tried to play it off, it'd hurt. He'd never had her treat him like this. He hadn't tried after that and had decided to talk to her face to face when they got back home.

The chauffer put his crutches in the trunk while he let his mother help him into his seat. He could've made it himself, but he knew helping him would make her feel better. So he let her.  
After dropping Tomo off at his house, the rest of them made their way towards Jared's house. Shannon and jared didn't live too far away from each other, and shannon had offered to stay over at jared's to help him around. Decided was more like it. Still in overprotective older brother mode, he hadn't really given him much of a choice, telling him he didn't have to stay over, but he wanted to. Damn emotional blackmail, Jared thought somewhat grumpily.

His mother had come back to his house while Shannon had gone back to his house to get some rest before coming back with his stuff. All Jared wanted to do was sleep, and his mother had understood. She'd asked him if he wanted any help, and he'd just said that he was going to go straight to sleep. She'd been a bit reluctant to just leave him alone, but he'd convinced her. She agreed to get him some groceries so she could check up on him in awhile. She gave him a peck on his cheek, and left, locking the door behind her.

Jared made his way into his bathroom, quickly stripping off his clothes and pulling on the plastic bag he'd bought with him on his leg. The knee brace he'd been fitted with had to be kept dry, and he had to keep it away from the water. He'd sadly become used to the balancing act, keeping his leg out of the shower. He stepped into the shower, turning on the water as hot as he could stand it, hissing slightly as it made contact with his skin. It always seemed to relax him.

Five minutes later, he stepped out, grabbing a towel and rubbing his soaking brown hair with it, and then wrapping it around his waist. He grabbed his crutches from beside the sink and went to his closet, pulling out some clean clothes. Slipping into the navy blue t-shirt, he made his way to his bed, pushing his wet hair from his eyes. Putting on his sweatpants was always tricky. If he even bent his knee a little, it felt like he would black out from the pain.

It took him a bit of time, but he managed to do it without hurting himself. He smiled, then instantly felt weird about feeling so accomplished about something as simple as putting on some sweatpants. Shaking his head, he collapsed into his bed, sighing at the familiar comfiness, and falling asleep almost instantly. It was good to be home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! I'm not dead :O this is my first story to reach 30 reviews and I love all of you guys, you make me so happy. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, vacations just started so I finally found time to write. This is like the third version of this chapter that I wrote and I'm sorry that its kinda short, but it's my favourite so far.**

**Hope you guys enjoy it, and remember to review. Criticism, ideas, compliments, I love em all :D**

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Jared woke to the yelling right outside of his room. He blinked owlishly, rubbing at his eyes as he sat up in bed, yawning hugely. Glancing at the clock he saw that he'd been asleep for...3 hours! Frowning, he listened closely, and sighed. It was his mom and Shannon. Perfect.

He made to get out of bed, but as soon as he got out, the screaming stopped and the front door slammed. He winced, grabbing his crutches and hobbling out of the room.

First thing Jared saw as soon as he walked out was Shannon standing in the middle of his living room, one hand on his hip and the other pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. Jared sighed quietly, leaning on the doorway. He didn't really have to use a lot of brain cells to figure out what had happened. His mom could be really fierce.

'She's still pissed, huh?'

Shannon jumped about ten feet in the air, letting out a little squeak.

'Jesus don't do that!' He cried irritatibly.

Jared would have teased him mercilessly about it any other day, but now wasn't the time. Shannon was hurting. Jared could see it in his eyes, even though he was trying not to let it show. Jared just stared blankly at him, not moving from his spot. Shannon sighed.

'Yeah. She still thinks I'm an irresponsible brother' He said resignedly, not quite meeting Jared's eyes

'Well you're not.' Jared replied blankly

'I'm starting to think otherwise' Shannon said with a bitter laugh, glaring at Jared

'Well don't, 'cause its not true'

'You're the only person who seems to think so right now. I think even Tomo thinks I'm an ass.' Shannon cried angrily, gesturing wildly with his hands. Jared just looked back calmly, knowing Shannon would calm down in just a bit.

'Shannon come on. I think the only person who has the right to judge you as a brother is me, don't you think?' He said quietly, trying to show that he meant it. Shannon looked at him carefully, as if trying to search for any hints of insincerity. Jared looked right back. The two brothers stayed unmoving for a while, Jared grimly noting how Shannon still hadn't let go of the guilt. Not that mom was making that any easier. A few seconds later, Shannon sighed and looked away, his shoulders hunching. Jared could literally see the anger ebbing away. He walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning on a crutch for support.

'You've put up with my bratty ass for so long, you look out for me all the time. We've been chasing our fucking dream together for 10 years now! D'you really think one little accident is going to change anything?' He said gently, giving his older brother's shoulder a light squeeze. He finally looked up, and Jared gave him a small nod. Shannon nodded back somewhat more confidently

'No. It's not'

'You bet your ass its not'

Shannon smirked and Jared let the grin peel onto his face, happy to see him accepting the reality, which was that Jared couldn't ask for a better brother or best friend.

'Mom will come around, old man. Don't you worry' He said with a wink, grabbing his other crutch and walking over to his kitchen. Shannon followed, smirking.

'You just admitted that you're bratty'

'That's called being modest'

'No it's called acceptance'

'It would be acceptance if I really was bratty' Jared shot back matter of factly, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

'But you are bratty' Shannon said simply.

'No I'm not. Now make me a sandwich' Jared called, already walking out of the kitchen.

'Thats denial!'


End file.
